Tension is inevitable, because caring broadly raises challenging, practical problems: all those competing moral obligations need to be balanced out.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Massimo Pigliucci on Jonathan Haidt
May 14th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHaidt has a tendency to step over from “is” to “ought” in the sort of seamless way that rightly annoyed David Hume.… Read the rest
Like the Force, but without the lightsabers
May 13th, 2011 4:48 pm | By Ophelia BensonJerry has a post (how does he do it while on the road admiring the beauties of Banff?) about a reader who reports on one path out of theism, from the literal kind to “the ground of all being” to the gleaming port of gnu atheism. I seized the opportunity to ask this reader what that meant to her/him, explaining that I always wonder what people mean by it. The answer was both informative and amusing.
… Read the restWhen I was in the “ground of all being” stage, I thought of it as a representation of some mystical spiritual energy which imbued the universe with intelligence and purpose. Looking back, they were basically filler words to represent a concept I didn’t want
Oxford study finds religion pervasive, inescapable
May 13th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnd guess who paid for that study.… Read the rest
The cause that wit is in other people
May 13th, 2011 4:18 pm | By Ophelia BensonOne good thing, Rosenau’s goofy “I haven’t heard the Lindsay-Mooney podcast but I know PZ (who has heard it) is rong about it anyway” post elicited some good comments (along with a whole lot of bad ones from the usual suspects, especially the indefatigable McCarthy). From PZ for instance.
… Read the restYour problem, Josh, is a total inability to appreciate any approach beyond your own. There is no surprising inconsistency in my views; all along the Gnus have been saying we need a multiplicity of approaches, so I can simultaneously endorse someone advocating a softer approach while favoring a hard core strategy myself.
My approach works for some people — actually, it works very, very well for a lot of people.
Invisible companions
May 13th, 2011 3:59 pm | By Ophelia BensonI have a few stalkers. Not real stalkers, just cyberstalkers. Maybe not even real cyberstalkers – just people who hate me and monitor my every online move and frequently blog or comment or tweet about how bad and stupid I am. One of them (that I know of) goes in for obscenity, but he talks that way about everyone and everything, so I don’t suppose he has many readers, especially not readers with any sense. Others just do stupid sneery stuff about new atheism and how pathetic it is that I’m saying whatever it is this time.
They’re all male, the ones I know about. Make of that what you will.
It’s odd having stalkers. It’s odd having people that … Read the rest
Interfaith leaders meet in Istanbul
May 13th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“When a supreme body that will force all to act according to the Creator’s will shall be formed, the level of religious extremism will drop.” Srsly.… Read the rest
Yes, Templeton is anti-science
May 13th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThey’ve funded the Heritage Foundation, the John Locke Foundation, AEI, the Manhattan Institute, Alliance for the Family, the Jesse Helms Center Foundation…… Read the rest
For-profit colleges target people who can’t pay
May 13th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMany students drop out before graduating or can’t find jobs that will allow them to repay their loans, leaving them with staggering debt.… Read the rest
Pornography found in bin Laden compound
May 13th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSurprise surprise.… Read the rest
Uganda: anti-gay bill shelved by parliament
May 13th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe bill, first introduced in 2009, could still be brought up when the new parliament meets later this year.… Read the rest
“Cosmetic” FGM
May 13th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNews from the fifth annual Congress on Aesthetic Vaginal Surgery, held late last year in a luxury resort outside Tucson.… Read the rest
Switching claims in midstream
May 12th, 2011 3:23 pm | By Ophelia BensonHmmyes. I listened to some of the interview again. As Tyro pointed out, there’s one place where Mooney very sharply contradicts himself – admits he has no evidence then almost instantly says he has a lot of evidence and a lot of knowledge. It’s quite remarkable.
This is in the part where they’re talking about the controversy over Mooney’s dogma that frank atheism is “counter-productive” (to what, is not spelled out). Lindsay says what’s the evidence, isn’t it a hunch.
Mooney says no, we know this: religion is a deeply held belief, it’s part of people’s identity, challenges to it trigger a defensive response. Lindsay says yes but that’s a general theory of the psychology of belief; do you … Read the rest
Michelle Goldberg on Uganda Anti-Gay Bill’s US roots
May 12th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe political scapegoating of gays and lesbians is a relatively recent phenomenon, one deliberately exported by the American right.… Read the rest
Ugandan anti-gay bill is far from dead
May 12th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe bill does not now appear on the order paper for the day but it could be carried forward into the next session of parliament.… Read the rest
Sign the petition
May 12th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCalling on the government of Uganda to to withdraw the Anti-Homosexual Bill.… Read the rest
Archbish accused of hypocrisy over Uganda’s bill
May 12th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSecretary of Pink Triangle Trust asks: Why is Rowan Williams ignoring, or refusing to condemn, the damaging role played by a branch of his own Anglican Church?… Read the rest
PZ on Lindsay/Mooney and the long term
May 12th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhat happens in the mind of a believer five minutes or a day after we make an argument is not the only issue. Change is a slow process.… Read the rest
Paul W on the social psychology of conformity
May 12th, 2011 8:31 am | By Ophelia BensonGuest post by Paul W.
Mooney claims that he’s done a lot of research and that his position is based on a lot of knowledge, and it’s all psychology, but IMO he seems almost entirely ignorant of the most relevant kind of psychology—social psychology of conformity going back to Solomon Asch’s very famous experiments in the 1950’s.
(Asch was Stanley Milgram’s advisor—Milgram being the guy who did the even more famous experiments on obedience to authority, where people thought they were shocking other people with dangerously high voltages because a scientist said to.)
Here are some topics worth looking up on Wikipedia—Mooney should demonstrate his familiarity with this stuff if he wants to be taken at all seriously, and … Read the rest
The truth about Moazzem Begg
May 11th, 2011 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBegg and Cageprisoners have a longstanding relationship with al Qaeda cleric Anwar al Awlaki.… Read the rest